Super Koopalings Episode 7: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
by StarlitDuck
Summary: Wendy gets criticized for her appearance by a friend of hers. Distraught, she goes to Iggy with a request to help her. He has a solution, but it isn't as perfect as either of them thought it would be.
1. Blind Date

**Author's Note: Okay, I decided that I didn't want to wait anymore to give you this story. I've had this concept in my head for a while now. This might get a little weird, I apologize in advance. I hope that you enjoy this, and I'll still be updating "Through Her Eyes" while I work on this.**

Chapter 1 Blind Date

"Up and at em, Wendy. It's time for breakfast."

Wendy sat up in bed at the sound of Larry's voice. She removed the cool cucumber slices from her face very carefully, as if she was trying to remove duct tape from her skin. She looked and saw that sunbeams were streaming down through the window.

Wendy let out a soft yawn and walked over to the mirror. Mask had been applied to her face the night before when she had put on the cucumbers, and her normally decorated face was lacking in makeup. If Wendy had more confidence in her appearance, she would have giggled at her reflection.

Wendy removed the mask from her face and started her morning routine. First came the lipstick, which was the easiest to put on. Wendy had been given five different colors of lipstick for Christmas, but she hadn't used any of them yet. Instead, by default, she applied her iconic pink color. It was the same hue as her shell, and she felt it really made her eyes pop.

Next came the eye shadow. Wendy hadn't been allowed to wear eye shadow until she became a teenager. She put on a nice cerulean, a color that also went with her eyes. Next was the eyeliner, blush, and her jewelry. Finally, to top it all off, she put on her pink bow with white polka dots.

Now that Wendy was all set, she found the confidence to smile. She was just about to head down for breakfast when she heard her phone chime on her nightstand, indicating that she had gotten a message.

_Hey Roy, I am in town this weekend and I was wondering if you wanted to meet up._

Wendy felt her heart skip a beat. Her fingers trembled as she typed into the textbox.

_Meet up? As in...in real life?_

There was a few seconds before the person responded.

_Yeah. In fact, I was thinking you could join me for lunch at Minnie T's say…at 12:30 tomorrow?_

Now Wendy felt scared. A date? They wanted to go out on a date? Wendy scrolled back up and saw that the person had put Roy's name into the first message. Normally, she would have thought this to be a mistake, but considering the circumstances…

_I'll think about it._

With that, Wendy put down the phone and let out a sigh to calm her nerves. It looked like she needed to have a chat with Roy.

…

As Wendy walked into the dining room, she could detect the sound of Lemmy. He appeared to be conversing with Ludwig and Iggy.

"I'm telling you guys, I think it's a good idea," Lemmy stated.

Iggy gave him a weird look, and Ludwig gave him a look of disgust.

"Sleeping in the bathroom?" Iggy asked.

"You do realize that's gross, right?" asked Ludwig.

Lemmy smiled.

"I don't think so," he said. "You have access to the sink, the toilet, the tub...all you need to do is put a refrigerator in there and you never have to leave!"

Wendy took a deep breath and went into view of her brothers.

"Good morning, guys," she greeted them.

"Good morning, Wendy," greeted the other Koopalings with varying levels of enthusiasm. Wendy took a seat at the end of the table, her expression consumed by nervousness.

"Uh, I think I did something a little crazy," she said. Larry chuckled.

"Uh oh," he said with a smile. "What did you do?"

Wendy opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, Lemmy spoke up.

"Wait, don't tell us; I want to try and guess," he said. He put his hand to his chin. "Umm...did you forget to put dish detergent in the washer?"

Wendy gave a little smile and shook her head.

"No," she said.

"Did you order something expensive online without consideration for your financial situation?" Iggy asked.

"Guess again," Wendy said

The other Koopalings thought about this some more. Then Roy jumped up.

"I got it!" he cried. "You used mustard as a sauce for ice cream!"

The others stared at him.

"Eww, no," Wendy replied. Roy's face fell.

"Okay," he said as he slowly took a seat. He refused to make eye contact with anyone. "I was just...checking."

Wendy stared at her brother for a minute before talking.

"Alright," she said. "Ever since Iggy has given us the phones, I have taken to going on social media. And while I was there, I met a girl who called herself Selene."

"Yeah, 'she called herself,'" Morton said quietly without looking up from his book. Larry chuckled.

"Hey Lemmy, how much do you want to bet that 'Selene' is really a guy?"

Lemmy giggled. Wendy shook her head before continuing on.

"Anyway, she called herself Selene. Now, I wasn't entirely comfortable with revealing my real name to her so...I told her that I was Roy."

Roy, who had been sipping a glass of orange juice, instantly spit it out, causing the crisp clean tablecloth to turn the color of the citrus fruit.

"WHAT!" he cried. Ludwig chuckled.

"This is interesting," he said as he leaned back in his chair. Wendy took another deep breath.

"Selene and I really hit it off," she continued. "We message each other all the time, and she even sent me pictures of what she looks like." Wendy looked down in her lap, where her thumbs were aggressively being twiddled. "Now, the reason I bring her up now is because I just got a message from her asking me out on a date. Of course, she thinks I'm Roy, so…"

Roy's grew wide with shock. The other Koopalings started giggling.

"Wait a second," Roy said. "You don't mean to say…"

Wendy nodded.

"Yep," said Wendy. "You are officially going on a blind date tonight."

Now Lemmy, Ludwig, Larry, and Iggy burst into laughter. Even Morton joined in. Roy looked shocked and infuriated as everyone chortled.

"Hey! It's not funny!" he cried.

"You're right," said Ludwig in between breaths. "It's hilarious!"

Suddenly, Larry held up his hands.

"Wait, wait wait," he said. "Wendy, before Roy goes out with Selene, there is something that I need to know."

Larry slid across the table on his belly and stopped when he was right in front of his sister. He was smiling and his eyes were twinkling.

"Is she hot?"

"Oh, she's gorgeous," Wendy replied.

Larry turned back to his siblings with an enthusiastic look. Lemmy mirrored the expression perfectly as he turned to Roy.

"Nice!" Lemmy exclaimed. "You've got a pretty girl running after you without having to do anything. That's awesome!"

"No it's not!" Roy exclaimed. "This is awful!"

"Why do you assume that?" Iggy asked.

"Because," Roy said. "I…"

Roy stopped talking and stared down at the ground. The other Koopalings looked at him with interest.

"You what?" asked Morton.

Roy took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I don't want to go out with her," he said, "because I'm in love with Celia."

There was a moment of silence.

"Celia?" asked Iggy. "As in Celia Patch?"

Roy's head bobbed up and down. Celia Patch was a human koopa hybrid that Roy had gone on a journey with. Everyone stared at him incredulously.

"But...you aren't even a couple," Ludwig said.

"I know!" Roy responded. "But I don't want to go out with anyone else. It would feel like...like I would be cheating on her."

Ludwig scoffed.

"Once again, I feel I must reiterate; you aren't even a couple!"

Roy gave Ludwig a look. Wendy, not wanting a fight to ensue, spoke up.

"Look, Roy, I'm sorry," she said. "I had no idea that you still liked Celia. But hear me out for a second."

Roy leaned toward Wendy, and the others gave her interested looks.

"I know that you aren't interested in other girls, specifically a girl you've never met. But Selene is really nice! She is a big fan of sports, and has even trained for a marathon. On top of that…" Wendy let out a breath…"she's also my friend. Even though she doesn't know it's me, she is still my friend. And I don't want to let her down. So, could you please do this? For me?"

Roy seemed to consider this. That statement, of Selene being Wendy's friend, actually carried a lot of weight. Because, as the other Koopalings knew so well, Wendy was horrible at making friends. For her to actually come right out and say she had one, even if she had never interacted with Selene face to face, meant a lot to all seven of them.

"Alright. I'll do it." Roy paused. "For you, Wendy."

Wendy beamed.

"Thank you, Roy!" she said excitedly. She ran over to the other side of the table and gave her brother a hug. Roy initially seemed baffled by this display, but eventually returned it. Wendy gave him one last smile before she ran upstairs to her pink walled room. She checked her phone to see that there was a message from Selene:

_So, I've given you time to think about it. What is your answer?_

Wendy had a triumphant grin plastered to her face as she typed into the textbox.

_Sure thing. See you tomorrow._


	2. Blank White Cards

**Author's Note: I just want to remind you all about the poll on my profile. If you guys could take it, I would really appreciate it.**

Chapter 2 Blank White Cards

The next day, Roy went out on the date with Selene, and Wendy couldn't have been more grateful. She promised Roy that she would take him to the movies later as a way of saying thank you. As Wendy and the rest of her brothers waited for Roy to return, they played a game of A Thousand Blank White Cards.

The Koopalings adored the game A Thousand Blank White Cards. Seeing how the game was played with cards that the players were supposed to create themselves, the game always ended up being a ton of fun. Half the time it got more chaotic than a race at Baby Park (which also happened to be an activity that the Koopalings enjoyed).

Anyway, the Koopalings were right in the middle of an intense match. When it was Ludwig's turn to draw a card, he held his mouth open in shock. Then electricity started to crackle in the air.

"Oh come on!" he exclaimed.

"What? What card did you get?" asked Larry.

Ludwig displayed the card to everyone around the table. On it was an admittedly well-drawn picture of an explosion.

"'Instant KO,'" he said. "This means I'm out for the rest of the game." Ludwig sighed as he took another look at the front. "And I was the one who made this card too. DARN IT, PAST ME!"

"Hey, you guys playing A Thousand Blank White Cards without me?"

The Koopalings turned to see their purple shelled brother in the doorway.

"Roy!" Wendy exclaimed as she got up. "So, how did it go?"

"It was good," Roy said. "Really good, as a matter of fact. I don't know what you told this girl Wendy, but she seemed to really like me."

Wendy beamed. The other Koopalings looked pleased as well.

"Nice!" said Iggy. "I am satisfied to hear that your first outing with Selene was pleasurable."

"So, what movie do you want to see tomorrow?" asked Wendy. "I heard about this one called "Golden Dino" that is supposed to be really good."

"Oh, actually," Roy said, "there's been a slight change of plans."

The other Koopalings adopted expressions of bewilderment and interest.

"Are you going out with her again?" asked Lemmy.

Roy nodded.

"Yes," he said slowly. "You could say that."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. Lemmy, Iggy, and Larry exchanged looks, and Morton just stared at Roy stoically.

"What do you mean, 'you could say that?'" Wendy asked.

Roy took a deep breath.

"Well, Selene asked me if I could introduce her to you guys tomorrow," he said. "And...there's a slight possibility that I said yes."

The other Koopalings gawked.

"Seriously?" asked Iggy.

"Dude, you don't introduce a girl to your family on the second date!" Larry said. "You're sixteen, you should know this."

"I know, I know," said Roy. "Look, I made a mistake, alright? I just...I just didn't want her to be mad at me, that's all."

"Do you like her the same way you like Celia?" inquired Morton.

Roy laughed.

"No, of course not," he stated.

"Well, if that is the case," Iggy said gently, "why would you care what she thinks?"

It took a minute for that statement to sink into Roy. When it did, he started to look a little panicked.

"Oh man, you're right!" he said. He shook his head. "What was I thinking? Darn it, past me!"

Everyone cast a glance at Ludwig, who looked a little taken aback by the coincidence.

"Uh...great minds think alike, I guess," he said.

Wendy snorted back a laugh and turned back to Roy.

"You don't have to worry," she said, trying to help him to calm down. "If you want, I can text her and say that you can cancel the date."

"Oh, thanks sis," Roy said gratefully.

With that, Wendy got her phone from off the table. She was a little surprised to see that she already had a message from Selene.

_I'm so excited that I am going to meet the other Koopalings tomorrow. I even went to the hair salon and everything! Hashtag I look gorgeous, hashtag I can't wait!_

Wendy felt a lump in her throat. She read the message to everyone out loud. The awkwardness was almost tangible.

"You know what?" Roy said thoughtfully. "Don't worry about cancelling, Wendy."

"You wanna go through with it?" Lemmy asked. Roy nodded.

"Okay," Wendy said as she put the phone down. She smiled. "You know what? This could be good. This will give me a chance to meet Selene face to face!"

"That's true," said Larry. "It will give all of us a chance to meet her." Larry laughed. "Although, depending on how pretty she is, I might try to steal her from you Roy."

Roy snickered

"Oh please," he said. "That would require you to have game."

The other Koopalings did their best to suppress their giggles. Larry just glared at Roy before he too put on a smile.

"Maybe not," he said. "After all, you were able to get her."

Now the other Koopalings laughed out loud. Surprisingly, Roy joined in on the laughter too.

"Can't really argue with that," Roy said sillily.

"Speaking of game," Lemmy said happily, "I think it's time we return to ours."


	3. Dirt

Chapter 3 Dirt

Wendy put in an effort to look especially beautiful for her visit with Selene. She even took the time to curl her eyelashes, which she didn't normally do because it was a pain in her tail. By the end of her time in front of the mirror, Wendy thought she looked better than she ever had in a long time. She was wearing a white dress that seemed to shine, as well as a necklace made of diamonds.

Wendy put on her shoes and a smile. She then made her way out of her room, down the stairs, and into the common room. She could see that Larry, Lemmy, Iggy, Morton, and Ludwig were already there. Morton had a book attached to his palms, Ludwig was fluffing his hair, Iggy was writing something down on a piece of paper, and Larry and Lemmy were whispering and giggling in the corner. Roy entered the room and when he saw his sister, he grinned.

"Nice dress Wendy," he said. The other Koopalings looked up from their activities to get an eyeful of their sole female member.

"No kidding Roy," said Larry.

"I don't know," said Ludwig. "It looks like she's going a little overboard, if you ask me."

"I concur with Ludwig's notion," Iggy stated. "Wendy's attire seems more fitting for a matrimonial ceremony!"

Wendy laughed.

"Well, I am not getting married; that would require me to have a fiance." Lemmy started giggling.

"Hey Iggy, you just made an unintentional pun," he said.

"I have?" Iggy asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Lemmy said as his giggling accentuated. "You just said Wendy's dress would be more 'fitting' for a wedding!"

Lemmy and Larry laughed until their sides hurt. Iggy, Ludwig, and Wendy just rolled their eyes.

"How I ended up related to a nimrod like you Lemmy, I will never know," Ludwig said with a slightly amused smile.

Wendy then cleared her throat so her voice would ring out loud and clear.

"Okay," she announced. "Everyone, march!"

The Koopalings proceeded in a clump toward the exit. Roy was strutting in front, grinning confidently. Morton was next, his nose still halfway in the book. Ludwig floated above the ground with his blue cloak wrapped around his body. Iggy was fidgeting furiously with a pencil, and Wendy followed behind carefully in her high heels. She was just about to close the door when she noticed that Lemmy and Larry were still in the corner of the room, whispering back and forth.

"Are you guys coming?" she asked. The others turned to glance at the two of them.

"Is there an issue of concern that you two are attending to?" asked Iggy.

Larry chuckled.

"Nah," he said. "We were just wondering what dirty secrets we could spill to Selene about Roy."

Now Iggy, Ludwig, and Morton looked interested.

"What an intriguing idea," Iggy said. "I personally have sundry secrets that I am keeping underwraps."

Roy looked absolutely horrified. Wendy stepped forward.

"Uh, you guys aren't going to say anything," she said. "You know why? Because I've got dirt on all five of you, and I am looking forward to using it."

Larry scoffed.

"You ain't got nothing on us."

Wendy raised an eyebrow.

"You wanna bet? Okay. Larry, do you remember when you were heading off to bed one night and you had a certain...magazine, with you?"

Larry's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open like a trapdoor.

"You promised you'd keep that a secret; if Bowser finds out about that, I'm dead meat!"

Wendy gave a smug smile as she turned to Ludwig.

"Ludwig, does the name Harhall Splatmark ring any bells?"

Ludwig gasped.

"You wouldn't dare," he said in a menacing way. Wendy just turned to Lemmy, who crossed his fingers, closed his eyes, and started whispering to himself.

"Please don't say the ballet incident, please don't say the ballet incident…"

"Lemmy," said Wendy, "the ballet incident."

"Oh no!" said Lemmy. "I was afraid you'd say that!"

Wendy turned to the next brother.

"Iggy. The generator."

At this, Iggy whimpered. Wendy then turned toward Morton, who looked uncharacteristically frightened.

"Now, as for you…" Wendy began. Morton held his hands in front of him.

"Please don't, please don't, please don't," he begged. Wendy thought about it for a little bit before she thought of the perfect secret.

"Oh ho, I know!" she said. "How about that time that you…."

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Morton cut her off. "You don't have to worry, I'll be nice."

Wendy smiled.

"Thank you," she said. She turned toward the others. "Can I count on the rest of you to be nice, too?"

The other Koopalings nodded and headed out the door, leaving only Roy and Wendy behind.

"So," Roy said. "The ballet incident? Harhall Splatmark? What was that all about?"

Wendy giggled.

"I'll tell you later. I'm saving those secrets for a rainy day."

**Author's Note: I just wanted to remind you guys about my poll on my profile. If you guys could take it, I would really appreciate it.**


	4. Selene

Chapter 4 Selene

The park where everyone was supposed to wait was carpeted in the lushest collection of grass that was ever seen in the Koopa Kingdom. Unlike the rest of the kingdom, which reeked of sulfur on a regular basis, this park also smelled of pine trees and freshly mown lawn. The Koopalings were more than happy that Selene had selected this place as their rendezvous.

Wendy glanced around at her brothers as they took part in a variety of different activities to help pass the time. Wendy herself was sitting on a park bench and was continuously fluffing her dress. Her nervousness was escalating with each passing moment. She was just about to practice a breathing technique that Morton had taught her when she heard some footsteps behind her. She turned and saw a koopa girl coming up to them.

"Hello, Koopalings!" the girl exclaimed in a melodic voice.

Wendy smiled. This was definitely Selene. Aside from the fact that her aquamarine hair now had purple streaks in it, she looked exactly the same as she did in the photos Wendy had seen of her. The other Koopalings all glanced her way, and Wendy could practically see their eyes turn into hearts. Larry came up to her.

"You weren't kidding when you said she was hot, Wendy," he whispered. "Yowza!"

Wendy gave a little smile and rolled her eyes. Iggy approached Selene and extended his hand towards her.

"I am Ignatius Magnolia Koopa," he said. Selene smiled and took Iggy's hand in hers.

"Selene Arrowhead," she said. Iggy's eyes grew wide.

"Arrowhead?" he asked. "Are you by any chance a descendant of Severus Arrowhead, lieutenant and war hero in the Koopa Mushroom War?"

"Yep," Selene replied. "He was my third great grandfather." Selene giggled. "I'm kind of a genealogy nut."

Iggy stared at Selene for a solid minute, his mouth hanging open and his eyes as big as planets. He then turned back to the rest of the Koopalings with excitement causing his face to shine.

"Genealogy!" he whispered loudly and excitedly.

Selene laughed and went up to Lemmy.

"So, you must be Lemonade," she said.

"Yes indeedy," Lemmy said. "Although you can just call me Lemmy. The only one who calls me Lemonade is Bowser, and even then he only does that when I'm in trouble."

Selene smiled.

"I'll remember that." With that she went up to Larry, who chuckled.

"Bet you don't even need to hear my name," he said slyly. Selene gave him a playful look.

"I don't know," she said in a voice that was smoother than her natural one. "I am pretty bad with names. You might have to...remind me."

Wendy felt her heart stop. Was Selene...flirting with Larry? First of all, she was going out with Roy. Second of all, Larry was only an eleven year old. He wasn't even a teenager yet! Wendy started to feel a little sick, and she could notice that Iggy looked the same way. Selene then went up to Ludwig.

"No introduction needed for you," she said with the same smooth, intoxicating tone she used with Larry. "Your powers and your symphonies speak for themselves, Ludwig von Koopa."

Ludwig didn't even respond. He just gave a cute little smile. Wendy knew that if he was warm blooded, he would be blushing. Selene went over to Morton, who had his snout buried in the book from before.

"And you must be Morton," she said. "I've got to say, the starbite on your face makes you look very chique."

Morton was so absorbed in the story that he didn't even look up. He just turned the page.

"Uh yeah, thanks or whatever," he mumbled. Selene giggled and turned to face the group.

"Well Roy, you were right," she said. "It really is nice to meet your siblings."

Roy was about to say something when Wendy came up to Selene and extended her hand. She smiled.

"It sure is nice to meet you too," she said. Selene looked down at Wendy's hand with a startled expression.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

Wendy felt like she'd been stabbed in the heart. She looked down at the ground nervous as her tail started to curl up.

"Um, Wendy," she said. "Wendy O. Koopa. I'm Roy's little sister."

Selene's face gave a blank expression. Then she turned to Roy.

"Since when do you have a sister, Roy?"

"Uh..since fourteen years ago."

Selene looked back and forth between Wendy and Roy.

"Huh. I guess you learn something new everyday," she said. She put her hand on her chin. "Although, I've gotta admit, I think Roy's sister would be much better looking."

Wendy gawked.

"You...you don't think I'm good looking?" she asked.

"Oh no, that's not what I meant!" Selene exclaimed. "What I mean is that, if you are the princess of the Koopa Kingdom, I would expect you to look like one. But you...I mean, you are pretty but...you are kind of on the high end of average, you know what I mean?"

Wendy's stomach felt like it was sinking. She could practically hear Selene's words echoing in her ears.


	5. Beautiful

**AN: I just wanted to remind you all about the poll on my profile. If you could take it, I would really appreciate it.**

Chapter 5 Beautiful

Wendy spent the rest of the day in a state of disbelief, confusion, and growing anger toward Selene. "On the high end of average;" how could she say that? That was the worst possible thing that Selene could have said, that anybody could have said. Wendy felt like punching Selene, crying her eyes out, and curling up into a little ball, all at the same time.

It was around sunset when the Koopalings bid Selene farewell and returned to the castle. Unlike Wendy, the gentlemen were in relatively happy moods when they entered the door.

"She was spectacular!" Iggy gushed.

"I know!" said Lemmy. "She even liked my joke about toaster ovens! That's never gotten a laugh out of anyone before!"

Ludwig snorted back a laugh.

"So she has no taste in humor; that's good to know," he said. Lemmy gave him a death stare.

"She was also gorgeous!" said Larry. "I mean, that hair. Those eyes. That body." Larry gave a whistle of delight. Iggy stared at him in disgust.

"Lawrence, she is six years your senior."

Larry chuckled.

"So? She's not an adult yet."

"She will be!" Iggy exclaimed.

"Yeah," Larry said with a smile. "Key phrase being 'she will be.'"

Iggy shook his head and turned to Wendy.

"Wendy, what were your impressions of…"

Iggy stopped mid sentence. He could see tears on Wendy's face, streaming down her cheeks. They resembled the diamonds that made up Wendy's necklace. The others looked at Wendy in concern.

"Wendy, is everything okay?" Morton asked gently.

Wendy nodded.

"Yeah, everything's fine," she said. The others didn't look so convinced.

"Is this about what Selene said about your appearance?" asked Ludwig.

This question was asked so that Ludwig could receive more information; however, all it did was make Wendy feel worse. The tears streamed down her face like rain in a hurricane, causing her mascara to run like crazy. Roy approached Wendy to put his hand on her shoulder, but before he could do that, Wendy bolted up to her room.

…

Several hours later, most of everybody in the castle was asleep. Wendy, however, was wide awake. She had tried to go to sleep, but she had ended up tossing and turning every which way. She had then decided to turn on the light and go to the mirror. She sighed when she saw her reflection. She had removed all of her makeup and accessories before she had gotten in bed. This, in Wendy's opinion, made her look rather plain.

"I really am ugly, aren't I?" Wendy said to the girl in the mirror. She just stared back at Wendy with sad, somber eyes.

Wendy shook her head. That was when she heard her phone chime on her night table. She went over and read the new message that Selene had sent her.

_I had so much fun! I thought Larry was a lot of fun, and I also thought Lemmy was super cute. We need to do this again!_

Wendy swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She knew she probably shouldn't reply. It was good to leave well enough alone. But at the same time…

_That's good. What did you think of my sister?_

Wendy had to wait a good five minutes before she got a response.

_You mean Wanda?_

Wendy stared at the text on the screen. She felt...horrible.

"Wanda," she repeated. With that, she slammed the phone face down on the nightstand. She turned back toward the mirror and saw that her reflection had burning, angry eyes.

"You know what?" Wendy said. Her chest puffed out as she took deep breaths. "I'm not going to take this. Maybe I'm not the most beautiful girl in the world. But I do know someone who can change that."

With that, Wendy got her bathrobe from of the door and marched down the hall. When she got to Iggy's door, she slammed on it furiously. Iggy opened it instantaneously, and Wendy could see that there was a light on over his work table.

"Wendy? What are you doing…?

"May I come in?" Wendy asked. Iggy looked a little taken aback but nodded regardless.

"Of course," he replied.

Wendy smiled at him gratefully and entered. She noticed that there were papers scattered all over the dusty floor. She also saw that the wastebasket beside Iggy's worktable was overflowing.

"Please excuse the mess," Iggy said sheepishly. "I've been neglecting the responsibility of cleaning in favor of my most recent projects."

"What are you working on now?" Wendy asked curiously.

Iggy smiled.

"I'm glad you asked," he said. He went over to his work table, where a plethora of papers lay at rest. "I've been working on a formula that will allow koopas to utilize the Mushroom Kingdom's power ups. I think i'm on the verge of a breakthrough!"

Wendy nodded.

"That's...that's great," she said. She hesitated. "Do you think that you could come up with a formula to fix my appearance?"

Iggy stared at his sister like she was crazy.

"Fix your appearance?" he asked.

"You don't have to do anything drastic like plastic surgery," Wendy explained. "I was just wondering if you could come up with a formula that would give me some hair."

Iggy looked bewildered and flabbergasted.

"Why are you asking me this? Wendy, you're beautiful. We tell you that everyday."

Wendy sighed.

"I know," she said. "But…"

"And even if you weren't, we would still love you," Iggy said.

"See, that's the problem; right there," she said. "I know that you guys would still love me. But I don't know if I would love me. Besides, I don't feel beautiful right now. I want to change that, no matter what it takes. Will you help me, Iggy?"

Iggy looked back and forth between Wendy and his notes. He rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"Give me until the morning," he said wearily. "I speculate I'll have a solution in the morning."

Wendy smiled and hugged Iggy.

"Thanks Iggy," she said. "You really are the best."


	6. The Field of Science

Chapter 6 The Field of Science

Wendy went back to her room with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. When she hopped into bed, she was so excited that she didn't expect herself to sleep. Thankfully, she did manage to conk out fairly easily and quickly.

The next morning, Wendy went through her normal morning routine. There was, however, one new factor. Actually, make that two new factors. Not only was Wendy grinning like a crook before she even started with the makeup, but she was also humming a tune that Ludwig had composed. He called it "The Toy Time Concerto," which happened to be a remix of one of Ludwig's previous songs, "The Running of the Mario Brothers."

Once Wendy was finished, she skipped down the hallway. Her mood was so cheery that she found herself greeting some of the koopa troopa servants as she passed by, which is something that she had never done before. The servants were pleasantly surprised to see Wendy in this state, although none of them expected her to be like this again.

"Good Morning everyone!" Wendy yelled when she entered the dining room. The other Koopalings glanced up at their smiling sister.

"You seem...happy," Morton said as he put down his croissant. Wendy nodded.

"Well, I am," she said. "You know why? Because this girl is going to look _very different_."

"You are?" Lemmy asked curiously.

"Yep, I am," Wendy said. "I asked Iggy to come up with a formula that would alter my appearance."

"Why do that when you alter your appearance every morning with your makeup?" Ludwig asked. Wendy just giggled.

"Oh, this is going to be different," Wendy said. "This alteration is going to be permanent."

Wendy then heard the door to the dining hall open. She turned and noticed that Iggy had just come in. Tufts of his hair were sticking out of the chartreuse mohawk like hay in a haystack, and he had a grumpy, sour expression on his face.

"Well sis, I hope you're happy," he said. "I was so busy with your request that I didn't even manage to get an inkling of sleep. Not one iota!"

Wendy grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry," she said. "But...did you at least come up with a solution like you said you would?"

Iggy grabbed a croissant from off the table. He started to slowly chew on it, making Wendy a little peeved.

"Oh come on, don't do this to me, Iggy," Wendy huffed. Larry laughed.

"Looks like the Iggster isn't going to talk for the next thousand years," he said. Wendy glared at Iggy as he slowly picked a flake off of his croissant and put it into his mouth.

"Why does he never talk when he is eating?" Wendy asked.

"For the same reason I don't talk very much," Morton said. Wendy felt interested.

"And why is that?" she asked.

Morton opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something. Everyone at the table could practically see a joke on the tip of his tongue. Then he closed his mouth and started to aggressively attack his croissant. Wendy sighed.

"I love how people aren't finishing their thoughts," Wendy said sarcastically. "It makes me feel…"

Wendy hesitated over the right word to say. Ludwig smirked from across the table.

"Hypocritical?" he asked. Roy gave his brother a confused look.

"Hypo-what-what?" he asked. "Is that like the hippopotamus or something?"

Ludwig and Wendy gave Roy looks as Lemmy giggled. Then, Iggy stood up. Wendy could see that his croissant was completely gone, much to her delight.

"Follow me," Iggy said to his sister. Wendy, curious, trailed behind Iggy as he lead her into the corridors. When he got to his lab, he opened the door and Wendy stared in wonder at the sight. In the corner of the room was a giant silver machine. The behemoth of a machine occupied a large portion of the room, and it had a glass window about three inches from the top so that one could peer inside. It also had what looked like a tap at the end.

"What is that?" Wendy asked. "That wasn't there before!"

Iggy, despite his exhaustion, smiled.

"I constructed her last night," he said. "I call her "The Power Extractor 6000.'"

"6000?" asked Wendy. "What happened to the other 5999?"

Iggy waved a hand, as if trying to shoo the question away.

"Stuff happened," he said. "I won't bore you with all of the gory details but ...let's just say things got a little heated in this room."

As Wendy tried to decipher Iggy's cryptic statement, Iggy went over to his storage area. He reemerged two seconds later with a tanooki leaf in hand. He put the leaf into the top of the machine.

"Now, watch as the magic happens," Iggy said. He pressed a button on the side of the machine, and it started to shake. It then sputtered, as if it had just died. Iggy groaned in frustration and banged on the side of the machine, which thankfully was all he needed to do to revive it. The machine whirred like it was completely healthy, and thanks to the window Wendy could see a plethora of different colors bouncing and dancing around inside. About a minute later, the machine stopped whirring and the colors died. Iggy then got a paper cup off from his water cooler and held it under the tap. He turned the handle, allowing a liquid the same color as cranberry juice to fall out of the tap into the cup. Iggy brought the contents over to his sister.

"This is a formula that contains the essence of the tanooki leaf," he said. Wendy looked confused.

"And what good will that do me?" she asked. Koopas couldn't use power ups from the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Aaah," Iggy said with a smile. "You see, the radiation in the machine has altered the power up's genetic structure. This will allow it to have an effect on koopas." Iggy laughed. "Now, I know what you're thinking; 'why would I want to use a tanooki leaf?' Well, this potion only contains a tiny bit of tanooki leaf. It is enough t give you some gorgeous brunette hair."

Wendy grinned.

"Perfect," she said. She took the potion out of Iggy's hands.

"Now, I have to warn you," he said, "that this has never been tested before. I don't know if this will have the desired…"

Before Iggy even finished the sentence, Wendy had devoured the potion. As soon as she had, she was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Iggy waved his hand to waft the smoke away. When it did, and he saw his sister, he gawked.

"What? What's wrong Iggy?" she asked.

Iggy didn't speak. Instead, he just pointed to Wendy's face. Wendy felt her face, and let out a scream of fright.

…

"What do you think that was about?" asked Larry as he and his siblings headed down to Iggy's lab. They had heard Wendy's scream and now were curious to see what had warranted such a sound.

"I don't know," Lemmy said. He looked concerned. "I sure hope it's nothing serious."

When the Koopalings got to Iggy's lab, they saw that Igg was in the hallway. He was curled up in a little ball and was shaking.

"Oh, what have I done? What have I done?" Iggy asked himself quietly.

"Yeah, that is a good question; what did you do?" Ludwig asked. Iggy looked up and almost screamed himself.

"Guys? Why are you…?"

"We heard Wendy scream," Roy said. "Is everything okay?"

Iggy hesitated then sighed.

"I suppose you were going to find out eventually," he said. He then put his hand on the doorknob. "Promise me that none of you will laugh."

"Dude, we promise," said Larry. Iggy sighed and opened the door slowly.

"Why would we even laugh?" asked Ludwig. "What's so amusing about...?"

Ludwig stopped when he caught sight of his sister. The others stared at her in wonder and fright.

Wendy had a tanooki tail. On her chin.


	7. Tail Beard

Chapter 7 Tail Beard

Larry, Lemmy, Ludwig, Roy, and Morton all stared at their sister in shock. For a solid minute, the only sound in the room was of Wendy sniffling.

"It's a...tail," Larry finally said.

"On your...face," said Lemmy.

Roy put his hand to his head and scratched lightly.

"I'm not a science whiz, but I don't think tails are supposed to go on your face."

Wendy dried her eyes and found the courage to speak.

"I...I...I...you know how I said that I asked Iggy to make a formula to change my appearance? Well, he said that it would give me some hair but…it gave me a tail beard instead!"

With that, Wendy burst into tears. The others glared at Iggy.

"So not only did you know the effects, but you also lied to her?" Morton asked with a hint of darkness in his inflection.

"What? No, of course not," Iggy defensively said. "I had told her beforehand that the formula had never been tested, so I wasn't sure if it would have the desired outcome."

Lemmy glanced over at Wendy, who was still crying.

"Well, Wendy does have hair, when you think about it," he observed. "It's just not on the top of her head." Lemmy went over and put his hands on Wendy's tail beard. He smiled and pet it. "Oh man, it's so soft!" He wrapped his arms around it in a hug. "It's like a hot dog shaped teddy bear!"

Wendy pulled away from Lemmy, still looking distraught.

"Yeah but….it looks weird!"

"What?" asked Larry. "That's….well, okay, maybe it does look weird, but it's on the very low end of weird. I mean, it's not like you look like an alien with three heads."

"Yeah," said Roy as he came over. "Or like Ludwig."

"Yeah exactly, it's not like you look like Ludwig!" Larry exclaimed. This just caused Wendy to burst like a water balloon into another round of tears. Iggy looked worried, concerned, and frightened.

"How are we going to undo this?" he asked.

"Well, whenever Mario uses a power up, the effects usually go away once he gets hit," Ludwig pointed out.

This caused Wendy to stop crying. She lifted her head out of her hands, an idea starting to form.

"Roy, hit me," she said. Roy looked slightly taken aback.

"What? Wendy, I'm not going to hit you."

"You have to. It is required."

Roy looked around the group at his brothers. Then he lightly tapped Wendy on the head. Wendy stared at him in frustration.

"That's it?" she asked. "Well, maybe a butterfly would call that a hit, but I know you can do better than that! Come on Roy, hit me!"

Roy hesitated for a minute before trying again. This time, he didn't hold anything back. He hit his sister with so much force that she crashed into the wall. As she tried to pull herself out of the hole that she had made upon impact, Larry chuckled nervously.

"Uh...home run?" he asked.

Wendy finally managed to successfully pull herself out of the hole. This allowed everyone to see that the tail beard was still there.

"No, I think a foul would be more accurate," Ludwig stated.

Wendy felt like crying all over again. If that didn't work, then what will?

"I do not believe that a method like that would yield successful results," said Iggy. "Normally, Mario's power ups only vanish when he has been hit by an enemy."

Wendy perked up.

"Well, then go find one of my enemies and bring them here," she said. Iggy looked startled.

"What!? Wendy, have you lost your mind?"

"I am completely serious," Wendy responded. "At this point, I am willing to try just about anything. Please, Iggy?"

Iggy's mouth hung open for a little bit. Then he nodded.

"Very well," he said. He turned toward his brothers. "Does anybody have a desire to accompany me on my quest?"

The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence. It was like the Koopalings had just been asked a private, personal, slightly inappropriate question. Then Morton stepped forward.

"I suppose I will," he said quietly. Iggy smiled at him gratefully.

"I appreciate your willingness, Morton," he said. "So, just to recap: you and are going out to find people who...hate Wendy."

Morton nodded as the two of them left the lab. Wendy then sighed.

"Okay, I am going up to my room," she said, "and I am going to avoid any and all mirrors along the way."

Wendy climbed up the stairs to the lab exit with Lemmy following behind her like a shadow. This left only Larry, Roy, and Ludwig in the lab. Larry snickered.

"Hey Roy," he said. "How awesome would it be if Bowser got one of those tail beards?"

Roy burst into laughter.

"Oh man, that would be hilarious!" Then his face lit up. "No wait, imagine Kamek with a tail beard!"

The two of them laughed like hyenas as they tried to visualize that.

"Dude," Larry said. "We totally have to sneak them the formula!"

Ludwig smirked.

"Yeah, you guys would die trying," he said. "Besides, if Iggy's smart, he'll get rid of that stuff as soon a possible." Then he gave Larry and Roy a death glare. "And what's wrong with the way I look?"

Larry and Roy's mood immediately shifted from joy to fright.

"Uh..um, nothing!" said Larry. "Nothing! You look...you look great!"

"Yeah, totally top notch bro!" said Roy as he gave Ludwig the tumbs-up sign. Larry and Roy chuckled apprehensively as they slowly backed out of the lab, Ludwig delivering his death glare the whole time.


	8. Ideas To Hide

Chapter 8 Ideas To Hide

"It doesn't look that bad," Larry said as Wendy and their brothers walked down the hallway.

"You're right," Wendy responded with sullen eyes. "It looks worse!"

"Oh come on Wendy, you're overreacting," Ludwig stated. Wendy stopped walking and stared at him.

"Am I, though? Tell me, when was the last time one of you guys saw somebody with a tanooki tail on their face?"

"Oh, Halloween two years ago," said Lemmy.

Everyone stared at the littlest Koopaling like he had dirt all over his face. Lemmy only met the stares with giggles.

"Roy had put his costume on upside down."

"Wait, what?" Larry asked with a laugh as he turned toward his older brother. Roy looked embarrassed.

"It's not funny. The only reason I did it was because I thought the hole on top was where you were supposed to stick your head. How was I supposed to know that there was a zipper on the front?"

"By coming out of your coma?" Ludwig asked. He was just about to burst into laughter when Wendy shushed them in a panic.

"Everyone hide!" she said. That was when everyone noticed a koopa troopa guard on patrol in the hallway. He was whistling to himself cheerfully and had his eyes on the ground, so he hadn't seen the Koopalings yet. Wendy ducked behind the curtain.

"Why do we have to hide?" Larry whispered.

"So you don't arouse suspicion!" Wendy said. Ludwig smirked.

"Yes, because nothing's more suspicious than four brothers walking down the hallway of their house," he said sarcastically.

"Just do it!" Wendy demanded. With that, Larry and Lemmy ducked behind the curtain. Ludwig flew up and pressed his back against the ceiling. Roy, not finding anywhere that he could hide, began to panic. Then, at the last minute, he had an idea. He picked up the red carpet that was underneath his feet and crawled underneath it.

When Roy was situated, the guard came passing by. He didn't notice Roy's body underneath the carpet, so when he walked by he tripped over Roy. He got up, glanced at the lump underneath the carpet, and sighed.

"Man, I really need to stop bringing my cat to work."

With that, the guard resumed with walking down the hallway. The Koopalings all got out from their hiding places.

"I am _astounded_ that worked," Ludwig said.

Wendy nodded. With that, she and her brothers continued walking down the hallway. When they got to Wendy's room, she sighed.

"Well, see you when this is over."

…

Iggy was stumped. In truth, he had no idea what to do.

"Where exactly are we supposed to go?" he asked Morton. "It's not like there is an organization that unites with the soul intent of bashing our sister."

Morton chuckled lightly.

"Iggy, she's a celebrity," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a club like that."

Iggy nodded and put his hand to his chin.

"That statement has truth to it, even though it was delivered caustically," he said. Then he got an idea. "Wait a second!"

"What is it?" Morton asked. Iggy looked at him with wide eyes.

"Selene!" he said. "We can go to her. It seems that she has hatred toward Wendy."

Morton got a questioning look on his face.

"Does she though?" he asked softly. Iggy's head bobbed up and down frantically.

"Of course she does!" he said. "She treated her like dirt! She's perfect!"

Morton took a little breath in then let it out through the nose.

"I suppose," he said smugly. "I mean, if there is one who knows what's best between the two of us, it would clearly be you."

Iggy scoffed.

"Clearly," he said. "I only graduated from college as a seven year old."

"Oh, speaking of which, how are your student loan bills coming along?" Morton asked curiously.

There was a moment of silence. Iggy looked a little taken aback.

"Uh, let's just go find out where Selene lives," he said.

**AN: Eleven people have taken my poll. If you want to take it, I would really appreciate it.**


	9. Morton's A Genius

Chapter 9 Morton's A Genius

"What are you guys doing here? Aren't you two supposed to be looking for someone to help me?" Wendy asked when Iggy and Morton came into her room. Iggy grinned.

"Yes. That is actually the reason why we are here."

Wendy felt confused.

"So...one of you wants to hit me?" she asked.

Iggy and Morton exchanged looks.

"No," said Morton.

Wendy scratched her head.

"You….you want me to hit me?"

This time Iggy snickered.

"No," he said. "We were here because we wish to achieve Selene's home address from you."

At this, Wendy smiled.

"Oh," she said. "Good thinking!" With that, she got her phone off from her bedside table. Just as she was about to start typing into the text box though, she got another message.

_Hey Roy. This might sound a little awkward, but...do you think that next time you see your sister, you could tell her that Selene said she was sorry? Because I am. I think that she took what I said the wrong way. So please, can you do this for me? Thanks._

Wendy's heart sank like it had been submerged in quicksand. She read the message out loud to her two brothers, and when they heard it they exchanged looks.

"Oh," Iggy said. "That's...hmm."

"So back to square one?" Morton asked.

"BACK TO SQUARE ONE!" Iggy announced as he turned toward the exit.

…

Iggy and Morton were now sitting in the lab. Iggy was writing something down on the whiteboard. When he saw that he wasn't getting the results that he wanted, he erased the marker frantically.

"No, no, NO!" he screamed. "This is hopeless. Wendy just doesn't have people who hate her."

"Yeah," Morton said with the tiniest hints of a smile. "It is almost as if she is a nice person or something."

Iggy sighed and sat down at the table.

"This..._can't _be this difficult," Iggy said. "There has to be something that we are missing."

Morton just shrugged.

"I don't know, Iggster," he said. Iggy continued to rack his brain, desperate to find a solution; any solution.

"Although I will say," Morton continued on, "that if we don't find a solution, then Wendy will never come out of her room again. And that will serve as a problem when we go on kidnapping missions."

Iggy lifted his head, his eyes wide and locked on Morton's face. Morton felt a little uneasy as his brother continued to stare at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Morton….you are a genius!" Iggy exclaimed.

"I am?' Morton asked. Iggy's hands started to shake excitedly.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that before; it was right in front of our snouts the whole time!"

"What the World Eight are you talking about?" Morton asked.

"Princess Peach!" Iggy exclaimed. "She hates us with a burning passion!"

Morton's eyes grew wide as well.

"Oh man, you're right,' he said. "That's...we've go to go to her."

"Exactly!" Iggy exclaimed. "We've got to go to Princess Peach with sincerity and gentleness...and ask her to slap Wendy right across her tail adorned face!"

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's head out!" said Morton.


	10. Peach's Room

Chapter 10 Peach's Room

"So are we going to just...break in?" Morton asked as he and Iggy stood in front of the castle's east wall.

"That is what I have formulated," Iggy admitted.

Morton gave Iggy a look saturated with skepticism. Then he snort back the tiniest hint of a laugh.

"This plan stinks."

Iggy gave Morton a death glare.

"Oh really? Well Koopstein, do you have any better ideas?"

Morton opened his mouth. Iggy could see it coming, he could see Morton preparing to yell at the top of his voice. On some level that is what Iggy wanted. He didn't want to break into the castle, he knew it wasn't his brightest idea. Iggy was praying that Morton would have come up with something better, but Morton shut his mouth.

"No, I do not," Morton said stoically. Iggy held back a frustrated sigh.

"Very well." he said. He then got a rope out of the bag at his side and stared up at the open window. He could feel nervousness starting to chomp away at his confidence. Iggy threw the rope up at the window and missed. He tried again, but missed that time as well. Once he missed a third time, he felt ready to pull his hair out. He growled.

"Great! The first and most simple part of the mission and we are already experiencing setbacks!"

Morton stared at the rope on the ground. He picked it up and turned to Iggy.

"Mind if I give it a go?" he asked. Iggy scoffed.

"Knock yourself out," he said. "It's not like you are going to have much…."

Before Iggy could finish the sentence, he saw that Morton had successfully thrown the rope up at the window. He turned to Iggy with a tiny grin, which Iggy greeted with scorn.

"Show off," he grumbled.

With that, the two of them climbed up to the window. As Iggy climbed higher and higher, so did his nervousness. He looked down at the ground, which seemed miles away from him, and shut his eyes tightly.

"Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down," he whimpered.

After what seemed like hours to the paranoid Koopaling, he and Morton finally reached the window. As they crawled in, Iggy could detect the scent of rose flavored perfume. He looked and saw that he and Morton were in somebody's bedroom. The walls were the color of snow and was clearly made of marble, just like the castle's exterior. The bed had silky curtains cascading above the sides of the cushy mattress. There was a lush, pink carpet beneath the Koopalings' feet, which felt great when compared to the tough stone floor that was in Bowser's Castle. Iggy tried to enter the room...and landed headfirst into a mahogany table.

Iggy groaned as he put his hand to his aching forehead. As he got back up on his feet, he cast a glance at the tabletop. He saw a letter beside a golden envelope, and on the envelope was the seal of the Koopa Kingdom royal family.

Iggy felt curiosity take hold of him. He cast a quick glance at Morton before grabbing the letter. He saw that the letter was dated on Valentine's Day, which was about seven months before.

_Dear Peach,_

_The way you make me feel is similar to how peanut butter makes jelly feel. The way cheese makes crackers feel. The way a shell makes a koopa troopa feel. You make me feel complete. You make me feel whole. You are the moon; your light makes the dark nights tolerable. You are the stars; I can see you shine even when you are worlds away. You are the sun; you are bright, beautiful, and you light up the whole world. I will always love you._

_Sincerely_

_King Bowser Koopa I._

Iggy handed the letter to Morton. Morton read it over.

"Hmm," he said impassively. "It's good, but I would prefer a box of chocolates."

Iggy shook his head and looked at the table again. In the corner he saw other valentines that Bowser had sent to Peach.

"She kept every single letter that Bowser sent to her," he said.

Morton took a glance at the table and started digging through the pile of valentines. At the bottom of the pile, he stopped and stared. There was a picture of Bowser and the Koopalings, taken about seven years ago. Bowser was holding a newborn Bowser Jr in his arms and beaming at the camera. The Koopalings were gathered around their father figure. The ten year old Lemmy and the four year old Larry were on Bowser's shoulders. The eight year old Iggy looked distraught, the eleven year old Ludwig had a mullet. The six year old Morton, surprisingly, looked excited as he sat beside the seven year old Wendy, and the nine year old Roy was doing the loser sign as he had on a big, goofy grin.

"Oh my goodness," said Morton as he showed Iggy the picture. "Do you remember when this was taken?"

"I do," said Iggy with a smile. He laughed and pointed at his past self. "I look like I had just received news that I wouldn't be receiving any cookies!"

"Is that the reason why you were upset?" Morton asked.

"No, actually," said Iggy. "I believe I was crying because this was the first occasion I had to adorn my glasses."

"Ah," said Morton. He looked at the photo again. "I still can't believe that she kept this."

"Neither can I," came a voice from the doorway.

Iggy and Morton froze. They slowly turned toward the door and saw Mario. He looked furious.

"What the World Eight are you doing in the castle?" he growled lowly.


	11. Get Well Soon

Chapter 11 Get Well Soon

If Wendy had a coin for every minute that passed since Iggy and Morton had left, she would have more money than what was in the Koopa Kingdom treasury. Well, okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. By looking at the clock, Wendy was able to see that her brothers had only been gone for two hours.

Two hours too long, to Wendy.

The Koopalings' soul female member sighed and slammed her back into the mattress of her bed. She was afraid. She was angry. But above all, she was bored. Watching the clock had long since lost its novelty. Wendy was not in the mood to talk to Selene either, and she didn't want to stand in front of the mirror because...well, you know why. Wendy had never gone this long without doing something. Even while she waited for Mario during kidnapping missions, she always had stuff to occupy her mind. Now, she had nothing except her mind, which was acting up like a ferocious, wild beast.

If she could turn back time, Wendy would never have gone to meet Selene. If she could turn back the clock, she never would have even considered going on social media. If she could cause the sand in the hourglass to go backwards, she would never have stepped foot in front of her mirror!

Okay, maybe that last one was an exaggeration. After all, the only people who had never stepped foot in front of a mirror were those who lived in the wilderness.

With this thought, Wendy sat up. Maybe she should live in the wilderness. After all, now she was too unsightly to live in the castle, to be called a princess. The only people who would accept her now were the wild beasts. It was a sad thought, but the more Wendy considered it, the more she convinced herself of its truth. So, Wendy got up from her bed and pulled out her suitcase. She had a lot of packing to do.

The first things that she packed were her pillow and blanket. She could take those out if she was trying to find someplace on the road to snooze. The next thing she needed, she knew, was water. Iggy had always said that water was critical if you wished to survive in the middle of nowhere. Wendy had a sink in her bathroom, so she had a good water source at the moment. The only problem, she realized, was that she had no containers to store it in. The only thing that she owned that even came close was her jewelry box. Wendy sighed, already accepting defeat. Then, she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Wendy asked.

"It's Larry and Roy," came Roy's voice from the other side. "Can you let us in?"

Wendy got up and opened the door a tiny crack, just big enough for her to get a glimpse of her brothers. She gasped when she saw them. Roy had in his hands a box of peppermint, which was Wendy's favorite type of candy. Larry carried some helium balloons and a bouquet of white roses. On the balloons was printed the saying "Get Well Soon" in cursive.

"Where did you guys get all that?" Wendy asked in astonishment. Larry chuckled.

"Well, the koopa troopa servants came up with the idea," he said. "You see, they had heard that you were feeling a little under the weather."

"Yeah, they heard you weren't feeling well," said Roy.

"So, they decided to get you a bunch of things to help. Every single one of them contributed to get you this stuff."

Wendy felt delighted.

"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed. "But wait, all this stuff is probably thirty coins at the max. If over a hundred servants contributed…"

"Yeah well, we weren't exactly supposed to tell you this," said Roy, "but they also bought stuff to throw a party once you are better."

Wendy felt her heart melt.

"You guys," she said. "This…" her eyes started to well with water. "This is too much."

"Hey, save your tears for the party," said Larry. "You'll be crying tears of joy then."

Wendy laughed and let the guys in. Once they saw the Wendy's suitcase on the floor, they were instantly stricken with confusion.

"Hey," said Roy. "Isn't that thing usually in your closet?"

Larry turned toward his sister.

"Wendy, why is your suitcase out?"

Wendy felt mortified. She started rubbing her hands up and down her tail beard in nervousness.

"Well, I was kind of considering running away," she said.

Larry looked shocked.

"Oh," he said.

"Run away?" asked Roy. "Why would you do that?"

Wendy stood there. She didn't know if she could tell them. After all, what did they know about beauty? They probably saw it as something trivial, not worth their time or hers. And maybe they were right. After all, her vanity had landed her with the tail of a raccoon dog on her face.

"I…I…"

Roy came up to Wendy and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. For a strong burly guy, it was surprisingly gentle. And warm, very warm and comforting.

"You know what? You don't have to tell us," he said. "Sometimes people just need to have secrets."

Wendy started to sob. She wrapped her arms around her brother as tightly as she could. The hug only lasted for a minute, but Wendy wanted it to last for longer. That hug was an escape, that hug was love. Not loving; that hug was love in one of its finest forms. Wendy wanted that one moment, when she was wrapped in her brother's arms, to last for all eternity.

"Roy?" Wendy asked when she was released.

"Yeah?"

"Am...am I beautiful?"

Roy looked at Wendy in confusion and bewilderment. Then he smiled.

"You are the most beautiful girl in the world."


	12. Persuasion

Chapter 12 Persuasion

_We are so dead._

This, as well as other strikingly similar thoughts, ran through Iggy's head as he was faced with the great hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario. Mario was seething with rage, veins in his forehead obviously noticeable as he glared at the koopas menacingly. His hands were clenched into fists so tight that they could break through glass. Then he lunged at them.

Iggy and Morton managed to get out of his way and rushed for the door. Adrenaline was starting to take over. They ran with the stamina and swiftness of cheetahs as they barreled down the long, marble hallway. They passed paintings of Mario hanging on the walls. The paintings' eyes seemed to follow them, and despite the fact that all of them were smiling, their expressions looked deadly.

"Were you counting on Mario being here?" Morton asked Iggy once they had finally reached the end of the hallway.

"No," Iggy said. "Although in hindsight it was a pretty stupid thing to overlook."

Mario's footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway. Iggy and Morton turned and saw the portly plumber charging at them like a bull. Iggy and Morton, panicked and worried, turned to the right and were faced with a staircase. They initially took the stairs one at a time, but upon the realization that they weren't moving fast enough, they started taking them two at a time. They both knew that they were gaining distance away from Mario, and both were glad.

That is, until two mushroom retainers stepped in front of the bottom stair. They glared at the koopas and crossed their spears, creating a barrier. Morton and Iggy stopped in their tracks and turned to look behind them. Mario was standing only two steps above Morton.

"Fudge pops," Morton said as Iggy's heart sank like a stone.

…

Unlike the rest Peach's Castle, which was gleaming white and shining bright, the dungeon was dingy and dark. The walls were made with a type of stone that was darker than obsidian and stronger than diamond. If one tried to punch it, the bones in their hand would instantly shatter. Any hope of escaping was a distant, unseeable light at the end of a tunnel that was a lightyear long.

As Iggy sat with his hands in shackles, he couldn't help but cry and shake with worry. They had one mission, a mission where they were required to be as quiet and discreet as possible. They had failed it. They had failed it like no one had ever failed before.

"Calm down," Morton said softly. He was seated next to Iggy and was also in chains.

"Calm down?" Iggy exclaimed as he turned his head. "Calm down!? What good will that do me?"

"If you do your best to keep your thoughts from running wild, and your emotions from taking over, it will make an experience that would otherwise be unbearable leagues more tolerable."

Iggy looked down at the ground. His breathing was starting to become shallow and rapid.

"What do you foresee them doing to us?" he asked. "They could detain us for the next decade. Heck, they could kill us if they wanted!"

Morton, despite himself, chuckled lightly.

"Iggy," he said. "This is Princess Peach we are talking about."

Iggy was just about to open his mouth to respond when he heard the creaking of the cell door. He looked and saw Peach and Mario entering the room. Mario's facial expression was still angry.

"They were found in your room, Peach," he said.

Peach stepped forward and looked at the two Koopalings. Iggy's shaking and emotions became too much for him to handle. He burst into tears, and if he had been able to he would've laid down at the Princess' feet.

"Oh Peach!" he cried pathetically. "Princess Peach Honey Toadstool, protector and heir to the throne of the great Mushroom Kingdom. Please, have mercy on me and my poor brother!"

"Mercy?" Peach asked with noticeable confusion haunting her inflection.

"Yes!" Iggy cried. "I can only imagine the horrible punishments that you have awaiting my brother." Then Iggy got an idea. "If you, in your wisdom, see mercy impossible for both of us, then at least let my brother Morton go."

"Iggy…" came Morton's voice.

"No, you don't understand!" Iggy squealed. "Morton has so much life that he has to live. I've already gotten twenty awards for my scientific discoveries, and he hasn't even gotten one! Please, allow him the opportunity to live. If you do, he can do amazing things! He can reverse the world's orbit, he can find a cure for cancer, he…"

"IGGY!"

Iggy turned toward Morton.

"What?"

"While I love the ego boost, I don't think your little spiel is necessary."

"Why not?"

Morton gestured toward the princess. Iggy got the chance to see that she was laughing. Iggy became angered.

"Do you find the death of your enemies amusing? Do you get enjoyment out of bloodshed?"

Peach calmed down and held out her hand.

"I...I'm sorry," she said. "But you see, I never had any intention of harming you."

There was a moment of silence. Iggy stared at the princess in wide eyed surprise.

"Really?" he asked weakly.

"Of course," Peach said. "My plan was ultimately to send you off. Provided with a little warning."

Iggy glanced at Morton. He started to laugh.

"You see Morton?" he asked. "She was going to send us off with a little warning!" He turned toward the princess and gestured toward his brother. "This guy here was worried you were gonna do something!"

Morton rolled his eyes as the princess chuckled. She then motioned for the toad who was guarding the cell to hand her the keys. She smiled as she unlocked the two koopa brothers. Iggy sighed in relief.

"Well, thank you your majesty," he said. "You have displayed epic amounts of mercy toward us."

"No problem," Peach said. With that, Iggy started to make his way toward the stairs that lead out of the dungeon. It wasn't until he was about to put his foot on the step that he felt a tap on the shoulder from Morton.

"Um, Iggy?" Morton said softly. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Iggy turned toward Morton, confusion prevalent n his face.

"I do not believe so," he said.

Morton rolled his eyes again.

"We have something that we need to ask Peach? Regarding our sister?"

Iggy immediately remembered.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. He chuckled with embarrassment over his faulty memory. "Forgive me, I was preoccupied with thoughts of how to avoid death."

The two koopas walked back into the cell and explained their situation to the princess. As they went on with the story, it was obvious that Peach was trying her darndest to conceal her laughter from the Koopalings. When they had finished, she looked like she might explode from all the held in giggles.

"Well," Peach said. "That's…" she snorted back a giggle that was trying to escape. "That's very tragic. I am very sorry for Wendy."

"Do you believe that you can offer your assistance, your highness?" Iggy inquired. "After all, you do hold a considerable grudge against us, correct?"

Peach looked shocked.

"You...you think that I hate you?"

Iggy and Morton nodded and said 'yes' in unison. It was at this point that Peach could not hold in her laughter any longer. She started laughing so hard that she ended up giving herself a case of the hiccups.

"You think that I hate you!" Peach said as she dried a tear from her eyes. "I am sorry but...I am afraid that you two are mistaken."

Iggy, for the second time in the last ten minutes, fell into shock.

"We are?" he squeaked.

"Of course!" Peach exclaimed. "After all, how can I hate someone who I find so loveable?"

On a normal day, Iggy would have been ecstatic to hear someone say this. Now, his heart sank.

"Oh," he said as his voice trailed off. "Well...I am sorry for wasting your time."

Iggy then headed sullenly for the door, Morton trailing behind him like a shadow.

"Wait!"

Iggy turned back toward the princess upon hearing the sound of her voice. Peach smiled.

"I might not be able to help you." She gestured to Mario at her side. "But I am sure that Mario can."

Now it was Mario's turn to look shocked.

"WHAT?!"

Iggy's mouth opened in delight. He ran down the stairs toward the plumber and the princess.

"REALLY?" he yelled. Mario looked at the princess with an expression that could only be described as horrified.

"Peachy," he said weakly. "You want me to help them?"

Peah smiled warmly at Mario.

"Wouldn't that be the right thing to do?"

Iggy kneeled before Mario.

"Please, Mario?" he asked. "If you do this, we promise you that we won't kidnap Princess Peach for at least a month!"

Mario seemed to consider it.

"I don't know…"

"We'll also bake you a lasagna," Morton said to interrupt his thought process. Mario's eyes lit up.

"Really? With extra asiago?"

"If that is what you desire," Morton said. Mario grinned a big, bright grin.

"Oh boy!" he said. He then ran up the stairs. "What are we waiting for? Let's-a-go!"

Mario then ran out of the room. Iggy turned toward Morton.

"Are we really going to bake him a lasagna? That seems a little extreme."

"More extreme then forcing Bowser to not kidnap Peach for at least a month?"

Iggy stared at Morton for a little bit.

"Touche," he said, and proceeded toward the exit.

**Author's Note: Well, it has been a while since I've reminded you guys about the poll on my profile. If you would like to take it, I would really appreciate your input.**


	13. Excitement

Chapter 13 Excitement

It turned out that candies and balloons weren't the only surprises that Larry and Roy had in store for their sister. They had a whole array of surprises hidden up their sleeves. This fact became abundantly clear to Lemmy and Ludwig while they were chilling out in their room. The two oldest Koopalings detected music coming from somewhere in the hallway, and followed the sound back to their sister's room. When they opened the door, they were astonished to see that Larry and Roy had installed a karaoke machine, and Wendy was singing her heart out to "Jump Up Superstar." Ludwig approached Larry and Roy, who had situated themselves on Wendy's bed.

"I take it that you guys have found a way to make her feel better?" Ludwig asked. He managed to do it in a way that was loud enough for Larry and Roy to hear, but not so loud that it threw off Wendy's concentration. Larry nodded.

"Yeah. She's been having an absolute blast."

While he was saying that, the final notes to the song's outro rang throughout the room. There was a short moment of silence after the song came to a close, as if Wendy wanted to take a moment of silence to acknowledge the track's beauty. Then she gave a whoop of delight that threw everyone else in the room off guard.

"I had no idea I could sing so well!" Wendy exclaimed with obvious excitement. She turned around so that her front was facing her brothers. "And I have to say that you guys are an amazing audience!"

"Well, what can I say?" Roy asked with a shrug and a sly grin. "When Wendy Koopa does something well, man does she do it well."

Wendy caught a glance of Lemmy grinning happily at her. She returned the expression, this time not giving a dang about the tanooki tail on her face. For all she cared, it could stay there forever. She realized now that while the tail beard was a problem, it wasn't something to wallow in depression over. Lemmy then noticed the helium balloons that were in the corner of the room, and his eyes sparkled.

"Do those have helium in them?"

Wendy turned around to glance at the balloons. She nodded her head.

"They sure do."

"GIMME!"

Wendy chuckled and removed one of the heart shaped balloons from the weight keeping it grounded. When Lemmy got a hold of it, the first thing that he did was untie the knot at the bottom. Then he put the balloon to his lips.

"Hello everyone!" Lemmy expected his voice to be higher than the Heavens, and was severely disappointed when he heard that it still sounded normal. His face instantly fell. "Ah man. I wanted to sound like a talking chipmunk."

Ludwig chuckled and took the balloon from Lemmy. He was grinning deviously.

"Watch. I'll show you fools how it's done."

Ludwig put the balloon to his lips and inhaled a fair amount of the mischievous gas. Once he was done he held the balloon at his side, and everyone waited expectantly to hear what he was going to say. He then looked Wendy directly in the face.

"Take me to your leader."

The explosion of laughter in the room was spectacular. Wendy had to grip her sides, as they were starting to ache. Larry and Roy laughed like hyenas at the voice that came out of Ludwig's throat. The only one who wasn't laughing, surprisingly, was Lemmy.

"It's only because you've got a deeper voice."

Ludwig held up his finger to indicate to Lemmy to give him a moment. He then took another shot of helium and turned Lemmy's way.

"On my planet, such a voice would be considered a mark of shame. Now, who wants to hear me sing the alphabet?"

Larry and Roy raised their hands in the air excitedly. Ludwig chuckled.

"I see you Mushroomians have good sense. Now…" Ludwig took another dose of helium once he noticed that his voice was starting to revert back to normal… "listen carefully as I sing not the alphabet you guys are familiar with, but the alphabet of my home planet…" Ludwig took another dose… "Moolb."

The fun quickly escalated from there. Once Ludwig had finished trying to cram a bunch of nonsensical sounds into the alphabet song (with one of them being the raspberry noise), the others all took turns with the helium. Larry managed to quote the first five minutes of "Star Wars" while his voice's pitch was raised, and Roy sung a rather comedic rendition of "Escape from the City." The only downside is that both felt like they were going to pass out once they were finished with their respective activities.

"Alright," Wendy said as she held the balloon and what was left of its contents in her hand. "I don't think that this will make much of a dent in my voice."

"Good," Larry said with his normal voice. "To be honest, I think I've had enough for one day."

"Yeah." Ludwig grinned and chuckled. "I think that we can probably expect an alien invasion in the next year. I hear the citizens of Moolb don't appreciate it when their alphabet gets butchered."

Wendy put her hand to her mouth to cover the giggles. Then, something unexpected happened; her tail beard slapped her in the face. The other Koopalings looked at her in confusion as she rubbed her forehead.

"How did you do that?" Lemmy asked.

"I...I didn't!"

The tail beard started to wag like crazy, so much so that it became a blur. Roy and Larry got up from Wendy's bed, and Ludwig adorned an expression of frightened concern.

"Wendy, what's happening?" Roy asked.

Before Wendy was able to answer, she rose into the air. Up, up, up she went until she hit her head on the ceiling. Wendy, not knowing what else to do, started to hit her tail beard. Miraculously, this helped the thing to stop wagging, and it allowed Wendy to fall to the ground (albeit in the least graceful way possible). Wendy got up from the ground and stared at her brothers, who stilled looked baffled. Wendy gave a nervous chuckle, and without warning her tail beard start to wag again. Only this time, Wendy didn't go vertical. She went horizontal; right out her open window.

Wendy screamed as she flew farther and farther away from the castle. Her four brothers ran to the window and watched as their poor sister moved closer to the horizon line.

"Okay…" said Roy as he scratched his head. "Does anyone else get the feeling that wasn't supposed to happen?"

Ludwig then flew out the window. Levitating a few inches from the sill, he turned to Larry, Lemmy, and Roy.

"Get your clown cars. We're going after her."


	14. Air Chase

Chapter 14 Air Chase

Wendy felt like she was flying on the back of a bullet bill. She was going so fast that she felt like she was going to be sick. The world around her was a blur. She didn't know exactly how far above the ground she was, and she would prefer it if it stayed that way. She figured if that information was revealed to her, her sense of panic would only increase.

As Wendy was flying away, Lemmy, Larry, Ludwig, and Roy were following her. Ludwig was flying all by himself while the others were being assisted by their koopa clown copters. While the vehicles were fast, they weren't nearly fast enough to catch up with the accelerating Wendy.

"I feel like we aren't making any progress!" Larry called out to the others.

The four koopas came to a halt. Larry was right; they might as well have been chasing a rainbow.

"We need a new strategy," said Lemmy. "If we keep chasing after her like this, then we'll never catch her."

As soon as Lemmy had finished saying that, the Koopalings could see that Wendy's tail beard was starting to take her in another direction: upward. She was ascending at an alarming rate, so much so that the others speculated that she would be up in space in less than five minutes.

"Guys! Do something! Help me!" Wendy screamed down to her brothers.

Lemmy and Roy looked at Wendy in shock. If she got up into space, then she'd be a goner.

"Whatever that new strategy is, Lems," Roy said, "I hope you think of it quickly!"

Ludwig's face adopted an expression of determined anger. He flew up a few inches above his brothers and held his right hand out. The others could see it starting to glow with a blue aura.

"Ludwig, what are you doing?" asked Lemmy.

"What I should have been doing all along," Ludwig responded. The others cast a glance at Wendy and saw that she was glowing with the same blue light that enveloped Ludwig's hand. She had also come to a complete stand still.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Ludwig said in a voice that sounded strained. "Go get her already!"

Larry and Lemmy, despite not feeling very certain of this plan, started to steer their clown copters up toward their sister. Roy stayed behind, which allowed him to keep an eye on Ludwig.

Ludwig's telekinesis was one of the most powerful abilities that the blue haired Koopaling had. It allowed him to control and manipulate any type of substance, in any type of matter state and at any size, weight, volume, or mass. There was one exception to that rule, though; Ludwig could not control other people telekinetically. Attempting to do so would put him through unbearable pain.

Watching Ludwig, Roy was able to view the effects of the pain that his brother was experiencing. He was gritting his teeth and grunting. Veins in his head looked like they were about to pop, and Ludwig had to close his eyes as even his vision was starting to become a burden.

"How are you doing, bud?" Roy asked. Ludwig gave another effort filled grunt and raised his left arm up. That hand also started to glow with the blue light.

"Just...wonderful!" Ludwig exclaimed. Although Roy wasn't the best at detecting sarcasm, he was able to visibly see that the effort was becoming too much for Ludwig to bear. Roy cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Guys! Hurry up!" he called out to Lemmy and Larry. Even though there was a considerable distance between the two groups now, Lemmy and Larry still managed to get the message. The two of them put the speed of their clown copters on the highest possible setting. With that, they managed to approach Wendy in less than a minute. All fear that Wendy had been experiencing instantly evaporated when she saw her two brothers.

"Don't worry, Wen," said Larry. "We're here to rescue you."

"Thanks guys," Wendy said with a grateful yet exasperated tone. Larry and Lemmy approached her careful. Larry took hold of her left hand, and Lemmy took hold of her right. They were just about to take her back down when they noticed that the blue light that surrounded her faded away.

The pain had proven too much for the oldest Koopaling. Not able to exert anymore effort, Ludwig had ended up falling out of the sky. In an instant, Roy was chasing after him. Down, down, down the two went, and just before Ludwig hit the unforgiving ground, Roy grabbed hold of his hand and hoisted him into the copter. Ludwig groaned, his eyelids starting to flutter. Roy sighed in relief when his older brother managed to keep his eyes open.

"So," Roy said, "how badly do you hurt?"

"Well, not badly enough to be hospitalized," Ludwig said with the tiniest trace of a chuckle, "but somewhere in the ballpark." Ludwig put his hand to his head and groaned. "I don't think I'll be able to do that again."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Roy said with a grin. "Last time I checked, Larry and Lemmy got to Wendy. They should be coming back at any…"

Before he could finish his sentence, something went whizzing past.

"What the World Eight was that?" Ludwig asked.

Roy turned around in confusion. That was when he was able to see that the thing that just went past was Wendy. Except this time, she had Lemmy and Larry holding her hands. The three screamed as the tail beard took them on the ride of their lives.

"Huh," said Roy. "Well that wasn't supposed to happen."

That was when Roy realized that his clown copter's gas tank was running low. He lowered the vehicle down to the ground. He hopped out and placed Ludwig on the ground. Ludwig tried to stand, but his legs were wobbling so much that he had to hang onto Roy for support.

"I won't be able to chase them," Roy said. "Do you think you'll be able to fly after them."

Ludwig gave Roy a look drenched in disbelief and incredulity.

"I can barely stand!"

"So...is that a yes?"

Ludwig gave a loud groan and shook his head.

"Alright alright, I get it," Roy said as he sighed in defeat. "But if we can't fly after them, who can?"

Just before Ludwig could answer, both of them heard footsteps approaching from behind. Roy turned around and saw Iggy, Morton, and Mario.

"Oh hey!" Roy exclaimed in excitement. He ran over to the trio, dropping the unbalanced Ludwig to the ground in the process. "You guys could not have come at a better...er time!"

Iggy practically had a heart attack at his brother's disgusting grammar.

"Betterer is not even a word!" he exclaimed. "That is like using phrases such as "more faster," or getting the different forms of there (their) mixed up!"

Morton shook his head.

"Anyway," he said as he put his hand on Mario's shoulder. "We found someone who is willing to help us."

"'Willing' is a very generous way of putting it," Mario grumbled.

"Oh, awesome!" Roy exclaimed with a grin. "No better person to help us than the guy who constantly beats up us and our dad!"

Mario looked up into the sky. He could see Wendy's tail beard taking her around in a circle, with Lemmy and Larry holding on to her hands so tightly that it looked like they would squeeze them off. Mario chuckled.

"Looks like I'll have to bring out the big guns." With that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tanooki leaf. Once the power up had taken effect, he flew up to the three Koopalings. He waited just outside of the perimeter that Wendy was flying in. When she came around, he swung his tail. The power up deactivation noise could be heard ringing out, and Wendy, Lemmy and Larry fell out of the sky. Mario caught them and brought them all gracefully down to the ground. Mario snickered.

"Well, that's that," he said. Lemmy and Larry chuckled in relief.

"We're alive," Larry said in disbelief.

"And everything is intact!" Lemmy said as he felt his face.

The Koopalings looked at Wendy. They could see that the tail beard had disappeared. Wendy felt her face and smiled.

"So Wen," Roy said as he stepped forward. "Are you alright?"

Wendy snickered.

"I'm tired," she said quietly.

"That is completely understandable, considering you just underwent a significant adrenaline rush," said Iggy.

"Let's get back to the castle," Larry said. "And after Wendy takes a little nap, we can throw that party."

"Party?" Iggy and Morton asked in unison.

"Oh that's right," Roy said as he glanced at Larry. "They didn't hear about that."

Larry adopted a look of brief concern. Then he shrugged.

"Eh, its not like we were gonna invite them anyway," he said with a laugh.

Iggy glared at Larry before he realized that now was not the wisest time for a fight. With that, the Koopalings proceeded to make their way back up to the castle.


	15. The Card

Chapter 15 The Card

The nap lasted longer than Wendy anticipated. Wendy had expected that she would be out for an hour and then be able to get back up without any problems. After all, it's not like she was _that _tired. Or maybe she was, because she didn't wake up until the next morning.

At first, Wendy didn't care. She had enjoyed her rest and besides, more sleep could only be a good thing, right? And after the day she just had, she deserved. It's not like anybody was expecting her to be awake….

Wendy's heart sank as she recalled the fact that her brothers were waiting in the throne room with the servants, expecting her to be present to the party that they were throwing in her honor.

_Dang it, _Wendy thought as she scuffled out of bed. For a second, she considered stepping in front of the mirror to adjust herself. She never looked the best after waking up, at least in her mind. After a brief moment of consideration though, she decided against it. The others had been waiting for far too long.

It wasn't until she was halfway down the hall that she realized that her panic might have been for nothing. Everyone probably went to bed after midnight, Wendy reasoned. The thought of them waiting around in the throne room just before the crack of dawn, with sagging eyelids and a difficulty staying awake, was ridiculous. It was a funny idea to try and visualize, but ridiculous nonetheless. So, Wendy decided that she would check the throne, just to be sure, but was not expecting there to be anyone in there. Save for Bowser and a few servants who were trying to figure out the agenda for the day.

So, when Wendy opened the door to the throne room, she was so surprised that she almost fell over laughing right then and there. Everyone was still there. Everyone. Her brothers were there, as well as a majority of the koopa troopa servants. Wendy could spot one or two people meandering about, but almost everybody was out cold. And they certainly hadn't noticed her arrival. Wendy took a minute to appreciate the hilarity of the scenario, then closed the door. She hadn't planned to do it gracefully, so the sound resounded throughout the whole throne room. Everyone who had been asleep woke up; some instantly, some slowly. Roy sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Wha...what's going on?" he asked. "Is the party over?"

"There was no party," Morton stoically said to his side. "The guest of honor never arrived."

Wendy approached her brothers. She knew that it would look pretty bad on her part if she looked amused, so she did her best to look regretful.

"Well, I'm here now," she said.

The other Koopalings looked up, and at the sight of Wendy they all jumped up, the signs of sleepiness completely gone from their faces.

"Where have you been?" Iggy asked with a considered inflection.

Wendy shrugged and smiled.

"I fell asleep," she said honestly.

"Fell asleep?" Ludwig asked. "We've been waiting all night for you to come down! I could've been in my room resting my head to "Moonlight Sonata," but instead I was here trying to get myself comfortable on a floor made of stone!"

"Sorry," Wendy said sheepishly. She then studied the room, trying to take in her surroundings. "But, for what it's worth, the decorations look nice."

This was true. Magenta streamers decorated the space between the wall and the ceiling. Heart shaped balloons, filled to the brim with helium, could be seen all over the room, and there was a table set up in front of the throne that held a wide assortment of delectable treats.

"Yeah, they do," Iggy agreed. "The servants did an astounding job."

"It wasn't just the servants!" Lemmy protested. "Remember, I was the one who drew that picture!"

Lemmy pointed across the room, and Wendy directed her attention to where he was pointing. From a distance, the picture didn't look like anything special. It was drawn on a plain old piece of printer paper, and the drawings were not discernible from where Wendy stood. When she approached though, she felt her heart stop. The picture was one of her, and despite the fact that it was made in crayon, Wendy could tell that effort went into it. It was a very appealing portrait of Wendy, drawn in the very distinct Lemmy style. Wendy smiled.

"Thanks Lems," she said. "I love it."

The Koopalings looked at Wendy. Their expressions looked playfully, mischievous. They looked like they were trying to hide something, something they wanted to bring to light.

"What?" Wendy asked.

The Koopalings all looked at Iggy, whose smile grew even brighter.

"Well, we were planning on giving this to you last night," he said as he pulled a card out from behind his back, "but I suppose that now would be as good a time as ever."

Wendy took the card. She saw that on the cover was a hand drawn picture of all the Koopalings riding on an airship. Wendy was at the airship's front and was pointing out toward the horizon, as if she was leading the expedition. Wendy smiled.

"Cool," she said.

"That picture was my idea," said Roy. "Ludwig also wanted to add some glitter glue."

"*Cough cough* He means himself, *cough cough*," Ludwig stated with an exaggerated cough.

Roy cast a glare at Ludwig, but only a brief one. He then told Wendy to open the card. She did, and saw a message written inside. She read it out loud.

"While some have beauty that is only skin deep, yours is so much greater. Your words have reached even the most stony of hearts. While the world might view you as just another princess, to us you are so much more. You are our sister. You are our friend. We all love you, and we all hope that you remember that you are beautiful. Love, Lemmy, Larry, Ludwig, Iggy, Roy, and Morton. PS…"

Wendy hesitated for just a minute as she read the post script to herself. Then she continued on.

"PS this is Roy. I never thought Selene was that pretty anyway. I am dumping her first thing tomorrow. Well, maybe Thursday, I don't know. I don't think that I can deal with another day of her. Also, did you hear about the new Mexican restaurant down the street? I hear it's really good…"

"Okay, okay, okay," Roy said. "The point that we are trying to get across is that we think you're awesome, and we want you to feel the same."

Wendy smiled and dried a tear from her eyes.

"Thanks guys," she said. With that, the Koopalings all gave their sister a hug.

**AN: There! It's finished! As always, thank you to all of you for reading, and special shoutouts to TrimusicaDrag00n90, TheGhostlyRobot, FierySpyro, Gallygal117 for favoriting, PinkRose0106 for following, and C. Mechayoshi for favoriting and following. Well, see you next time (whether that next time be an update for my current stories or a whole new story I am not 100% sure, but see you all the same :) )!**


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